derBayerische May/June 2022 - 25

T H E 2 0 2 2 R O L E X 2 4 A T D A Y T O N A
opportunity to see the cars on track
and compare the BoP base settings.
The race during the ROAR has
become the qualifying race for the
Rolex 24, setting starting positions
for Daytona. BMW brought along
an outstanding group of
drivers to contest the race. The
drivers included the best people
BMW has as factory drivers: Philipp
Eng, Marco Wittmann, Nick Yelloly,
Sheldon van der Linde, Connor De
Phillippi, John Edwards, Augusto
Farfus, and Jesse Krohn. Turner
Motorsport had the best driver of all
time, Bill Auberlen, with co-drivers
Robby Foley and Michael Dinan.
As it turned out, the M4 GT3s were
not leaders in the GT group during
the ROAR qualifying 8th, 12th and
16th in class for the 24 Hours.
On Friday afternoon before the
Daytona 24 Hour, the Michelin Pilot
Challenge race takes place. For the
Daytona 24 weekend it is known as
the BMW M Endurance Challenge.
It's a four-hour race. There were just
four BMW M4 GT4 cars entered in
the 48-car field. It's a little disappointing
that some of the traditional
teams have left the series for other
(less expensive) events. BimmerWorld
is no longer in the IMSA
series and we miss them. There
were five Toyota Supra GT4s that are
of course based on the BMW Z4
platform and power. However, as
the weekend progressed the Supras
really didn't have much impact.
Dillon Machavern qualified the #95
Turner car in 5th place with the #96
and Vincent Barletta in 20th. There
are quite a few good drivers and
well-prepared cars in the series, so
the race was very good. Machavern
kept the #95 car near the front just
as he's supposed to and gave it over
to Bill Auberlen to take to the end
and compete for the win. Barletta
moved the #96 car up and gave it
over to Robby Foley in a much better
position than we might have
expected. As the race came to its
final phase both cars were at the
front in contention for the win. Back
in October, at VIR, we enjoyed the
May I June
■ Tom Plucinsky provides a tour of the M4 GT3.
fight put on by Bill Auberlen competing
for the win as the race came
to a close, and he treated us to the
same experience at Daytona.
Coming through the field after
taking over from Machavern, Bill
had an entertaining race with
Robin Liddell in the Rebel Rock
Racing Camaro GT4.R. Bill came
out ahead after racing the Camaro
closely, but the Porsches seemed
to have a bit of an advantage on
the banking and were able to stay
on top.
At the finish, the #95 Turner
car finished in 3rd with Robby
Foley in the #96 car not far behind
in 5th with another Porsche in
between them. The M4 GT4 is well
developed and understood by the
Turner Motorsport team, so they
would seem to be in position again
■ The Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 in GTD.
to compete for wins. Bill Auberlen
hasn't lost any of his prowess and
will push the car to it's maximum.
It should be a fun 2022 in the
Michelin Pilot Challenge races.
As I mentioned, the finishing
order from the ROAR Before the 24race
set the field for the Rolex 24.
In GTD there were several new cars
and quite a few well-developed cars
with capable teams. The BMW and
25
derBayerische May/June 2022

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